Exchange
Exchange
'Let's check it out for a moment.'
Doyoon turned his smartphone back on and searched.
According to the search results, Awakened people were usually born with a Capacity around 100.
Most Low-Grade Recovery Potions consumed about 70 Capacity, and since it took around 24 hours to clear 100 Capacity, they had no choice but to drink one almost once a day.
'But why doesn't my potion consume Capacity?'
Puzzled, Doyoon logged into the Awakened Gallery and posted a message.
[Awakened Gallery]
[Question] Hey guys, I just made a potion and the consumed Capacity is 0
What is this? Is there a bug in the status window or something?
After waiting a moment, comments started popping up.
> Stop lying. How could there be a bug in the status window?
How the hell do you drink a potion without consuming Capacity? You probably misread it in your sleep.
Comments denying Doyoon's claims.
(OP) No, I'm serious;; I just made a potion and it says it doesn't consume Capacity.
Bullshit. I lurk on the Exchange every day and there's no such potion. I've seen a Low-Grade Recovery Potion with 50 Capacity consumption, though.
The Exchange was a marketplace that only Awakened people could use.
As one of the features of the status window, items could be traded using points as currency.
Because it was a trading system used by every Awakened person around the world, there were even sayings that if it wasn't here, it didn't exist anywhere.
A potion that hadn't been discovered even in a place like that.
'Isn't this something amazing?'
Doyoon had an intuition.
Awakened people, who could barely drink a single Low-Grade Recovery Potion a day, always had to cross the line between life and death inside the tower.
But what if, even if it was just a Low-Grade Recovery Potion, they could drink as many as they wanted in a single day?
The strategy for clearing the tower itself would change.
'First, let's see at what market price potions are traded.'
Doyoon called out the Exchange in his mind.
He had read on the internet that doing this worked, so he felt doubtful whether it would really work, but soon the status window changed into a new window.
[Exchange]
[Welcome to the Awakened Exchange.]
[Please enter an alias to use for trading.]
[Trading is conducted under your alias, and your identity will not be disclosed.]
Doyoon pondered for a moment.
"Let's make the alias... Zero-Calorie Alchemist."
It was an alias taken from his class name.
[Welcome, 'Zero-Calorie Alchemist'-nim. We hope you have a pleasant trading experience.]
The window asking to create an alias disappeared, and finally, the Exchange window appeared.
The Exchange interface had a search bar at the top and item categories on the left.
On the main page, items currently garnering high interest on the Exchange were displayed.
[Sword Made from Ground Dragon Bone]
Price : 5,000,000 pt
[Lich's Staff]
Price : 3,000,000 pt
'Uwa.'
Since 1 point converted to roughly 100 won, were those weapons around 500 million and 300 million won?
He knew Awakened people made huge amounts of money, but this was beyond imagination.
[Current Points of 'Zero-Calorie Alchemist'-nim : 0 pt]
On the other hand, his own points written small at the bottom of the Exchange were empty to the point of being pitiful.
'Wait, now is not the time for this.'
Doyoon found potions in the category on the left.
Upon entering that category, the item he wanted appeared right from the first page.
[Low-Grade Recovery Potion]
Price : 2 pt
Compared to the weapons from earlier, it was a ridiculously low price.
Even scrolling down the window, the price didn't change much.
So potions really don't make money after all.
If the market price was this low, it seemed unlikely that even a potion that consumed no Capacity would sell for very much.
Just then.
In front of the discouraged Doyoon's eyes, the Exchange window refreshed.
[Low-Grade Recovery Potion]
Price : 10,000 pt
'Huh?'
A price blatantly different from before.
Seeing the price jump by a whopping 5,000 times, Doyoon opened his eyes wide.
What on earth is this potion that its price is so high?
As he stared intently at the product, a new window appeared.
[Low-Grade Recovery Potion]
Recovers a small amount of health.
Consumed Capacity : 50
Seller : Strongest Alchemist
A window providing detailed information about the product.
The blatant difference from other recovery potions was that its consumed Capacity was only 50.
'Just for that, the price differs this much?'
Doyoon continued to stare at the item with wide, surprised eyes.
Before long, the window changed once more, and a new pop-up appeared.
[This item is already sold out.]
A potion sold out in an instant.
Doyoon doubted how effective a potion you could only drink twice a day would really be, but it seemed other Awakened people thought differently.
'If even a Capacity of 50 goes for ten thousand points, what if it consumes 0...?'
Just how expensively would the Zero Calorie Low-Grade Recovery Potion sell for?
Two million won? No, if reducing Capacity by 20 fetches this much money, shouldn't it fetch way more than that?
'Shall I test it out?'
Suddenly, Doyoon looked at the potion in his hand.
[Zero Calorie Low-Grade Recovery Potion]
Recovers a small amount of health.
Consumed Capacity : 0
It felt like he would only know the true value of a potion with 0 Capacity by trying to sell it himself.
'Yeah, let's sell it.'
As he thought that, a new window appeared.
[Sell Item]
[Please place the item to trade on top of the window.]
There was a space in the window that looked like something could be placed there.
He brought the potion close to the window.
Then, the potion in his hand disintegrated into particles of light, disappeared, and instead appeared in the sales window.
[Please set the trade price.]
Doyoon pondered for a moment before speaking.
"About one hundred thousand points?"
It was expensive, but still, if reducing Capacity by 20 caused the price to jump by 5,000 times, wouldn't a potion that shaved off 50 Capacity be allowed to be this expensive?
[Price has been set.]
[Do you wish to put it up for sale?]
Swallowing his saliva, Doyoon replied.
"Yes."
[The item has been registered on the Exchange.]
The status window returned to the Exchange screen.
On the Exchange, his potion was now listed at the very top.
[Zero Calorie Low-Grade Recovery Potion]
Price : 100,000 pt
Seller : Zero-Calorie Alchemist
'Will it really sell?'
One hundred thousand points, worth roughly ten million won.
On simple math alone, it wasn't absurdly expensive, but it was true that he felt skeptical.
How long had he waited like that?
Since the potion wasn't selling, it was gradually being pushed down toward the bottom of the Exchange.
'Was it too expensive after all?'
Just around the time he was regretting it, thinking he should have made it a bit cheaper than this, a new window appeared before his eyes.
['Zero Calorie Low-Grade Recovery Potion' has been sold.]
[100,000 pt has been paid.]
"I-It sold?"
He hurriedly checked his points at the bottom of the Exchange.
[Current Points of 'Zero-Calorie Alchemist'-nim : 100,000 pt]
Ha, haha, laughter burst out.
One hundred thousand points—a massive sum of roughly ten million won was earned in an instant.
Money he had never touched before entered his hands.
'This really isn't a dream, right?'
He pinched his cheek.
It hurt normally.
He had truly Awakened in reality and earned a massive fortune.
Furthermore, this wasn't the end.
Even a Low-Grade Recovery Potion that barely recovers a small amount of health fetches a price like this.
If so, what about Medium-Grade Recovery Potions that consume even more Capacity?
What about High-Grade Recovery Potions?
What about potions other than recovery potions?
What about elixirs that even rankers can't drink because they consume too much Capacity?
If potions that couldn't be drunk until now could finally be consumed, the strategy for clearing the tower would change.
Doyoon could only now be certain that his ability was of that magnitude.
'Now is not the time to sit around.'
Doyoon hurriedly turned on his smartphone.
For starters, he planned to quit his part-time job at the meat restaurant right away.
"Is this the end for me."
The man muttered.
The 10th floor.
It was the floor of the tower where novice Awakened lost their lives the most, as the difficulty skyrocketed.
The man was stronger than other novice Awakened, but he was ambushed at the end and collapsed.
'I've already drunk all my potions.'
Even the Low-Grade Recovery Potion he could only drink once a day had been consumed long ago.
Even so, his body couldn't hold out any longer.
Even if he drank more potions beyond this, he would die of toxicity.
'But if I'm going to die either way...'
If his body was going to die anyway, shouldn't he at least try one final gamble?
Among the Awakened, there were rare cases where someone had a higher Capacity than other Awakened.
In such cases, drinking a potion twice sometimes allowed them to survive.
Of course, it was a gamble, but he didn't want to die so helplessly like this.
He summoned the Exchange in his mind.
Pressing the potion category, recovery potions appeared.
'Huh?'
Something was strange.
Among the potions, there was a price that shouldn't exist.
[Zero Calorie Low-Grade Recovery Potion]
Price : 100,000 pt
'One hundred thousand points?'
Is it a scam? the man tilted his head in doubt.
Occasionally, people listed items on the Exchange at absurd prices.
Putting it up hoping that at least anyone would get tricked.
Perhaps other people thought similarly, because without anyone buying it, the potion was gradually pushed down toward the bottom.
The man stared blankly at that potion continuously.
Then, a new window appeared.
[Zero Calorie Low-Grade Recovery Potion]
Recovers a small amount of health.
Consumed Capacity : 0
Seller : Zero-Calorie Alchemist
'Zero-Calorie? No, more than that...'
The man's eyes widened.
"...Consumed Capacity... is 0...?"